ExxonMobil sued by U.S. for nooses displayed at Louisiana facility
The U.S. Federal Government is suing ExxonMobil for harassment and racial discrimination after they found the company failed to take adequate measures following the discovery of several nooses at the company's Baton Rouge facility.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed an employment discrimination lawsuit on March 2 based on incidents that created a hostile work environment for employees, including worker Milfed McGhee who reported the display of a noose in January 2020. According to the lawsuit, ExxonMobil was aware of three other nooses found in the Baton Rouge facility before McGhee reported the incident to his supervisor. The EEOC claimed ExxonMobil investigated some of these incidents, but not all, and failed to take corrective measures to end the harassment.
The EEOC filed the suit after first trying to reach a settlement through a conciliation process. Between April 2016 - December 2020, five nooses were reported in the Baton Rouge facility. In 2016, an employee at the chemical plant reported a noose hanging from a scaffold. ExxonMobil banned two tractors from the job site due to the report but did not take necessary measures such as training, counseling, or policy changes, to prevent further racial harassment.
Another employee reported a second noose in March 2019, which a supervisor notified ExxonMobil’s safety department, but never notified human resources. That same year a third noose was reported, and in continuation months later McGhee observed a fourth noose at the worksite in January 2020. ExxonMobil investigated Mr. McGhee’s complaint but was unable to identify the perpetrator.
ExxonMobil submitted an investigative report recommending additional measures to rectify the racial harassment, but did not complete all the measures recommended in the report. By this time a fifth noose was reported at the Baton Rouge Complex in December 2020.
ExxonMobil’s actions and omissions regarding the noose incidents created a racially hostile work environment, the EEOC said. The Commission is seeking justice for McGhee’s “emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience and humiliation,” the suit stated.
The EEOC claims the actions of the company were malicious and/or a reckless disregard of McGhee’s federally protected right to be free from racial discrimination in the workplace. EEOC attorney Elizabeth Owen explained, “A noose is a longstanding symbol of violence associated with the lynching of African Americans. Such symbols are inherently threatening and significantly alter the workplace environment for Black Americans.”
The displays of nooses have appeared several times throughout the previous years including at an Amazon construction site in 2021. The incident involved the investigation by the FBI after seven nooses were found on the site within a five-week span. Most recently, in November a noose was discovered in a boy's locker room at a Connecticut high school. The state police investigated and issued a juvenile summons for a 17-year-old high school student.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: ExxonMobil sued for noose displays by the Federal Government
